Ethics of Algorithmic Art Curation: The Risks of Limiting Creativity and Diversity
June 28, 2025Categories: Art and Technology, Podcast Episode
Embracing Uncomfortable Truths with Owen Hawthorn
Explore the world of uncomfortable ideas and challenge the status quo with our thought-provoking podcast. Delve into uncomfortable conversations and offensive topics that push the boundaries of social norms in areas like religion, politics, and morality. Learn to embrace discomfort, understand different perspectives, and make better decisions by uncovering the unconscious processes that influence our judgment. Join us as we navigate through challenging topics and seek to inform and enlighten listeners.
The Ethics of Algorithmic Art Curation: Is Creativity at Risk?
You know how these days, so much of what we see online seems tailored just for us? Whether it's ads, music playlists, or even which artists pop up on our Instagram feed, algorithms decide a lot. Now, imagine that same system applied to the art world—where programs, not human curators, are selecting which pieces get exposure, which artists gain attention, and frankly, which kinds of creativity flourish. It sounds efficient, but also kind of unsettling, right?
Let me be honest, I’m pretty skeptical about using algorithms to curate art. I mean, art is all about pushing boundaries, challenging the usual ways of seeing things. But when you hand that power over to an algorithm, you’re basically trusting a set of data and coding rules to make subjective decisions. How does that not limit diversity and expression?
First off, algorithms are designed to optimize for certain outcomes. They "learn" from patterns and feedback—likes, clicks, shares—which are often tied to what’s already popular or comfortable for an audience. This can create a feedback loop where the same styles, themes, or even artists get promoted repeatedly, while new, experimental, or controversial work gets buried. It’s a classic case of challenging the status quo becoming near impossible when these systems prioritize what’s safe and easily digestible.
Think about it: art is supposed to be uncomfortable sometimes. It’s meant to stir emotions, provoke thoughts, and even offend. But algorithms tend to favor content that avoids controversy—after all, negative reactions might reduce engagement. That means truly groundbreaking or challenging art risks disappearing from the spotlight. We end up with a sanitized version of culture that fits neatly into algorithmic preferences.
On top of that, these systems are created by humans, with all our biases and blind spots. So while the algorithm might seem neutral on the surface, it can replicate and even magnify existing prejudices—whether related to race, gender, geography, or artistic style. The tech being sold as "objective" art curators often reinforce the very inequalities they claim to eliminate.
Now, I’m not saying algorithms aren’t useful. They can help discover emerging talent or connect people with art they might never find otherwise. But there's a critical difference between using tech as a tool versus letting it control artistic exposure. We need to have uncomfortable conversations about what we’re giving up when we allow machines to dictate culture.
That’s why embracing discomfort is essential here—because asking these questions challenges us to understand different perspectives on creativity and fairness. It forces us to re-examine what we value in art and who gets to decide. The book, Uncomfortable Ideas by Bo Bennett, PhD, dives into exactly these kinds of thought-provoking topics, encouraging us to question widely accepted norms instead of accepting things at face value.
Ultimately, promoting diversity and expression in art means more than relying on a cold, data-driven algorithm. It means committing to human judgment, to the messy, unpredictable process of creativity—and to the uncomfortable truths about bias and exclusion that arise along the way.
So next time you scroll through an "art discovery" feed, remember: you might just be seeing a narrow slice filtered through algorithms hungry for clicks and consistency, not a true representation of what's out there in the creative world.
Explore the book Uncomfortable Ideas to get better equipped for these kinds of conversations. It’s about embracing discomfort to understand the bigger picture, which is something we all need right now—especially in spaces as important as art.
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